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Two SF State alums earn Oscar nods

February 2 , 2010 -- Alums Christopher Boyes (B.A. '85) and Jonas Rivera (B.A. '96) learned they will be strolling the red carpet on film's biggest night, marking the 11th consecutive year that SF State alums have earned Oscar nominations.

Jonas Rivera began working at Pixar Studios as an undergraduate as SF State.

Boyes earned two nominations for his work on the blockbuster, "Avatar," the top-grossing film of all time. A four-time Oscar winner, Boyes was nominated in the sound editing and sound mixing categories. He shares the nomination for Achievement in Sound Editing with Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, and is listed with Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson on the Achievement in Sound nomination.

The pair of nominations are the 12th and 13th Oscar nominations of his career. Boyes' past wins include: Best Sound Effects Editing for both "Titanic" (1998) and "Pearl Harbor" (2002). His third win came in 2003 for Best Sound for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Boyes shared his fourth Oscar, for Best Sound Editing on "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (2002), with Ethan Van Der Ryn (B.A., ’90), winner, Best Achievement in Sound Editing for "King Kong." Boyes was inducted into the SF State Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004.

Rivera (B.A.,'96) produced "Up," which is nominated in the Best Picture category. Rivera began working at Pixar studios in 1994 while attending SF State, climbing the company ladder and working on every Pixar film ever made. "Up" took nearly four and a half years to make and marked his debut as a producer. To read an SF State Magazine profile of Rivera, visit: http://www.sfsu.edu/~sfsumag/archive/fall_09/alumni5.html

In addition, alum Anthony Peckham (M.A. '87) wrote the screenplay for "Invictus," which is nominated for two Academy Awards.

SF State's past Academy Award nominees include triple nominee Annette Bening (B.A., '85), who appeared most recently in "The Women," and David Gropman (B.A., ’74), production designer for "Doubt." Alumni Oscar winners include Steven Zaillian (B.A. ’75), who won Best Adapted Screenplay for "Schindler's List" (1993); and Gloria Borders (B.A. '78), winner, Best Sound Effects Editing for "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). Shawn Murphy (B.A., '68), who recently served as scoring mixer for both "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Australia," won the Oscar for Best Sound for "Jurassic Park" in 1993. To learn about other SF State standouts in entertainment, visit: http://www.sfsu.edu/~hotshots/film.html

The 82nd annual Academy Awards will be held March 7 and televised live on ABC.